SEPANG: Malaysia is expected to register air passenger traffic of between 32.6 million and 49 million by the end of the year following positive growth in the first five months of this year, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

He said the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) statistics showed that the country's total air passenger traffic had increased by 574.6% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2021, reaching approximately 16.3 million passengers.

Speaking at the launch of the State Safety Programme (SSP) here on Tuesday (Sept 13), Dr Wee said there were a total of 288,076 flight movements recorded in the first six months of this year.

As for air cargo traffic, he said it was expected to grow between 3.9% and 6.7% compared to 2021, which is between 21.5 billion to 22 billion freight tonne kilometres (FTK).

Citing data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), he said the number of air passengers would recover by 2024 at the earliest, depending on the situation in the region.

Based on the positive development, Dr Wee said the Transport Ministry was optimistic of developing the aviation sector to revive the country's tourism industry.

"Efficient, punctual, safe and reliable air transport will be the main economic and social driving factor in Malaysia," he said. – Bernama